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Thursday, November 10, 2011

Review: She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb

Publisher: Pocket BooksPage Count: 465Source: Given to by friend

Publication Date: August 4, 1992

Goodreads Synopsis:

In this extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb
invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with
the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years. Meet Dolores
Price. She's 13, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye.
Stranded in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing
herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi that her anxious mother
supplies. When she finally orbits into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores
is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to
the occasion and give herself one more chance before she really goes under.

My Review:

I surprisingly enjoyed this book. I was really nervous to read a male's perspective on a woman's life but I think Wally Lamb did a great job! I will admit there were a few sections where you could tell it was a male writing this, knowing that he couldn't understand some things that Dolores would be thinking and had some misconceptions about a woman's thinking (but it wasn't predominant).

What I loved most about this book was that as a reader I got to grow up with Dolores through all her trials and tribulations. Most books I find are not so in depth about the character's entire life, usually they take place over a few years. I think Wally did a great job telling this story through the eyes of Dolores, showing how hard life can be for people with weight problems (but other problems as well).

The one thing about the book that I was not a fan of was the whole substory of Dolores identifying with a whale (just because she was overweight). It just seems like a bit of a cliche to add that in. Wally definitely has an amazing writing style that draws the reader in from the first page. I didn't want to stop, I always wanted to see what Dolores would do next and when and how all her actions would finally catch up with her.

I would definitely recommend this to a young woman. It is a great coming-of-age story and really shows that life is hard on everyone and that you make your life what it is in a way. This book goes on my to reread in the future shelf!

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